Cooking Measurement Conversion Chart PDF: The Kitchen Cheat Sheet
Why Keep a Conversion Chart in the Kitchen
Most recipes in the US use cups, tablespoons, and Fahrenheit, while cookbooks from the UK, Australia, and Europe use grams, milliliters, and Celsius. A printed conversion chart taped inside a cabinet door removes the guesswork mid-recipe, when your hands are covered in flour and your phone screen is unreadable. A PDF gives you one file you can print at home, reprint when it gets greasy, and scale to any size — a full letter-size sheet for the pantry or a small card for the fridge magnet.
Volume Conversions You'll Use Constantly
These are the relationships that show up in nearly every recipe. Memorize the first four lines and you can reconstruct the rest.
- 1 tablespoon = 3 teaspoons = 15 ml
- 1 cup = 16 tablespoons = 8 fluid ounces = 240 ml
- 1 pint = 2 cups = 480 ml
- 1 quart = 4 cups = 32 fluid ounces = 960 ml (about 1 liter)
- 1 gallon = 4 quarts = 3.785 liters
- 1 fluid ounce = 2 tablespoons = 30 ml
Note the practical rounding: 1 US cup is technically 236.6 ml, but 240 ml is close enough for cooking and keeps the mental math simple. For baking where precision matters, weigh instead.
Weight Conversions: When Grams Beat Cups
Weight is the honest measurement. A "cup of flour" can range from 120 grams (spooned and leveled) to 150 grams (scooped straight from the bag) — a 25 percent difference that turns a tender cake into a brick. Grams don't change based on how you scoop.
- 1 ounce = 28.35 grams
- 1 pound = 16 ounces = 454 grams
- 1 kilogram = 2.2 pounds = 1,000 grams
- 1 stick of US butter = ½ cup = 8 tablespoons = 113 grams
Common Ingredient Weights per Cup
These values assume standard measuring technique — flour spooned and leveled, brown sugar firmly packed. Use this table when a recipe gives cups and you want to convert to grams for a scale.
| Ingredient | 1 cup (grams) | 1 cup (ounces) | Measuring note |
|---|---|---|---|
| All-purpose flour | 125 g | 4.4 oz | Spoon in, level off — never scoop |
| Bread flour | 130 g | 4.6 oz | Same technique as AP flour |
| Granulated sugar | 200 g | 7.1 oz | Level with a straight edge |
| Brown sugar | 215 g | 7.6 oz | Packed firmly so it holds its shape |
| Powdered sugar | 120 g | 4.2 oz | Sift first if lumpy |
| Unsweetened cocoa | 85 g | 3.0 oz | Spoon lightly, don't pack |
| Butter | 227 g | 8 oz | Two US sticks = 1 cup |
| Milk or water | 245 g | 8.6 oz | Read at eye level in a liquid cup |
| Honey or maple syrup | 340 g | 12 oz | Grease the cup for clean release |
| Uncooked long-grain rice | 185 g | 6.5 oz | Yields about 3 cups cooked |
Oven Temperature Conversions
Convert Fahrenheit to Celsius with the formula (°F − 32) × 5 ÷ 9, or just use these standard settings:
- 300°F = 150°C (slow roasting, drying)
- 325°F = 165°C (pound cakes, braises)
- 350°F = 175°C (the default for most baking)
- 375°F = 190°C (cookies, biscuits)
- 400°F = 205°C (roasted vegetables, pizza)
- 425°F = 220°C (bread, sheet-pan dinners)
- 450°F = 230°C (searing heat, thick-crust pizza)
Most home ovens run 25°F hot or cold, so an inexpensive oven thermometer is worth more than any chart. If your browning is uneven, rotate the pan 180 degrees at the two-thirds mark of the bake time.
How to Print and Use Your PDF Chart
- Print on letter-size cardstock rather than plain paper — it survives splashes better.
- Laminate it, or slip it into a clear sheet protector and tape the edges shut.
- Mount it on the inside of a lower cabinet door near your prep area, or use a magnetic sheet on the fridge.
- Print a second copy at 50 percent scale as a bookmark-sized card for your most-used cookbook.
- Keep a copy saved on your phone for grocery shopping, where you may need to compare package sizes in grams.
Three Measuring Mistakes a Chart Won't Fix
First, never measure liquids in a dry measuring cup. Fill a liquid cup to the rim and you'll overshoot by up to two tablespoons, which matters in custards and bread dough.
Second, don't scoop flour with the cup itself. Scooped flour packs to about 150 grams per cup versus 125 grams spooned and leveled — that's an extra quarter cup of flour in every cup you measure.
Third, treat small quantities seriously. A "heaping" teaspoon of baking powder can be double the intended amount and leave a metallic taste. Level every spoonful with a knife, especially for salt, baking powder, baking soda, and yeast.
When you scale a recipe up or down, weight conversions shine: doubling 170 grams of sugar is 340 grams, with no ambiguous "1⅓ cups plus 2 tablespoons" arithmetic.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many tablespoons are in a cup? There are 16 tablespoons in one US cup. That also means 1 tablespoon equals 3 teaspoons, and one stick of butter (8 tablespoons) equals half a cup.
Is a UK pint the same as a US pint? No. A US pint is 16 fluid ounces (about 473 ml), while an Imperial pint is 20 fluid ounces (about 568 ml) — roughly 20 percent larger. When a British recipe calls for a pint of liquid, check whether it means Imperial or metric, and convert to milliliters to be safe.
Should I convert baking recipes to grams? Yes, if you have a kitchen scale. Baking is chemistry, and a $15 digital scale that reads in 1-gram increments gives you repeatable results far more reliably than cups. Even inexpensive scales handle the 1-gram to 5-kilogram range you'll need for home baking.